Inequality Gap Research Articles

Factors Predisposing Emergency Medical Technicians to Workplace Violence: A Cross Sectional Study.

Emergency medical technicians (EMT) are at high risk of workplace violence as they often care for patients in uncontrolled and often hostile emergency settings. Gauteng Province, the most populous province in South Africa, caters for 75% of the total population which is dependant on state funded health care. Public sector EMTs' have been robbed with aggravated circumstances, assaulted with intent to do grievous bodily harm, raped and even murdered whilst on duty. Despite this, comprehensive studies investigating the factors that predispose public sector EMTs' to workplace violence in Gauteng Province are lacking. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the factors that predispose public service EMTs' to workplace violence in Gauteng Province. Data were collected using questionnaires. A total of 413 questionnaires were returned by community members of Gauteng who met the inclusion criteria. Descriptive statistics and binomial tests were used to analyze data. The results of this study revealed that workplace violence toward public service EMTs' in Gauteng is attributed to the high rates of crime, the widening gap of inequality, economic deprivation of basic rights to previously disadvantaged communities by government, vulnerability of EMTs' when responding to the ill and injured within low- and middle-income communities and a lack of consequence for disorderly behavior within the communities. An understanding of the community factors that predispose EMTs' to workplace violence may improve the understanding of the phenomenon of workplace violence and developing prevention programs within the communities.

Identification of a partnership model between a university and not-for-profit organization to address health professions education and health inequality gaps through simulation-based education: A scoping review.

Simulation-based education is a key aspect of health professions education used to aid healthcare providers in developing and maintaining clinical skills. Rural and remote healthcare providers have limited access to skills development opportunities. Training tools such as simulators are primarily limited to university and hospital-based research centers in urban areas. This scoping review aimed to examine current literature to identify a partnership model involving academic institutions and non-profit organizations (NPOs) that focuses on facilitating the wider distribution of simulators. The five-stage Arksey and O'Malley methodological framework for conducting scoping reviews and the Joanna Briggs Institute Manual for Evidence Synthesis was used to guide the scoping review. The search was conducted on five literature databases, three grey literature databases and through manual reference searching with an applied time frame of 2000 to 2022. The search identified 15 articles that met the eligibility criteria and were included in the study. Analysis of the articles revealed that no partnership model currently exists that facilitates the production and distribution of simulators through a partnership between academic institutions and NPOs. Establishing the partnership, acquiring funding, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and dissemination were identified as key stages of a multi-institutional partnership. Further research is necessary to fill the gaps of the partnership process pertaining to the development and production of simulators to train healthcare providers.

Changing Status of Women in Nepal

The study attempts to examine the trend in socio-demographic, economic and political situation of Nepalese women, and tries to explain the changes in these areas throughout time. It also tries to review the initiatives taken by the government to improve the lives women in Nepal. The study employs an exploratory and descriptive research design using the published data sheets from National Population Censuses and other National Surveys. The analysis found noticeable changes in all the social, demographic, economic and political areas in favor of women across the years. More than half of total population belongs to female (51%). With the socio-political transformations of the country, the role and status of women have also been dramatically changed in community and household and thinning the barrier to gender inequality. Over the last four decades (1991-2021), they have experienced significantly increased life expectancy (55.5 years - 72.7 years), reduced fertility (5-2.1children), and maternal mortality (575-151/000 live births) and raised the simulate mean age at marriage from 18 to 22 years. They have also significantly improved their educational attainment at all levels. A substantial proportion (52%) of Nepalese women are economically active. Female-headed households and fixed property owners have also been raised to 32 and 24 percent, respectively, which is a significant step toward enhancing women's status and bargaining power in society. After provision of the new Constitution, they experience remarkable progress in the political sphere and at the levels of decision-making. In addition to these achievements, the trend in the values of the GDI, GII, GEM, and HDI also confirms the significant improvements in their socioeconomic and political roles, and the gap in gender inequality between males and females has narrowed over time. These developments and achievements could be the outcome of government initiatives and women's struggles to secure their rights.

Does Declining Female Labour Force Participation Result in Fewer Gender Gaps?

South Asia has the second highest gender gap in8 major regions in the world. The highest gender gaps are for economic participation and political empowerment. Economic participation and opportunities grow as more women pursue professional and technical education. The over-all gender gap has marginally declined from 54.08 in 1998 to 50.8 in 2021. This indicate that the progress has been remarkably slow in terms of female labour force participation, with India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Maldives on the lowest side. While South Asia is the fastest-growing region globally, the female labour force participation rate is only 23.6% versus 80% for men. There is a significant negative relationship between the two variables. With every increase in per capita income level in South Asia, labour force participation shows an inverted U relationship. This contradicts the empirical estimations in the literature showing a U shape relationship. The main finding is that gender gaps in employment, job characteristics, and working conditions are growing as per capita incomes rise. Further, per capita, income growth speeds up the reduction process of gender inequality and gender gaps. This again confirms the proposition that labour force participation does not directly lead to reduction in gender gaps. Reduction in gender gaps does lead to increased labour force participation. Effective implementation of gender-centric policies, creating a level playing field for women, accelerates the process of gender balanced opportunities and outcomes. Technological interventions cannot act as a substitute for policy interventions.

Gender wage gap in the formal and informal sector in the COVID-19 crisis period, of the national labor market and the state of Coahuila

One of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2015-2030 agenda establishes guaranteeing equal remuneration between women and men for work of equal value. This objective is taken up in the 2018-2024 nation project for Mexico. In the project, the Federal Government aims to eliminate inequality gaps between women and men, as well as the obstacles that women face in all areas. The objective of this research is to estimate the Gender Wage Gap in the formal and informal sector of the labor market of the country and the state of Coahuila in the period of the COVID-19 crisis, to observe the trend of wage differences in the period 2019 – 2022. Mincerian wage equations (1974) were estimated for each gender with data from the National Occupation and Employment Survey (ENOE), for subordinate workers. The variables considered the sector in which the employee works and the condition of the working day. The Gender Wage Gap was estimated using the Blinder and Oaxaca (1973) methodology, with selection bias correction (Heckman, 1979). It was observed that the Gender Wage Gap in the context of crisis generally tended to close, this was because in the formal and informal sector the salary difference for women tended to decrease in 2020, while in 2022, during the economic recovery the Gender Wage Gap returned to the parameters of 2019 both nationally and in the state of Coahuila.

Access and quality of healthcare in China: Rural and urban disparities

While China is nearing its goal of universal coverage, with its large population and the history of urban and rural distinction, disparities in access and quality of healthcare between cities and countries still exist, becoming the underlying problems in the current Chinese healthcare system. Disparities are mainly rooted in the different statutory insurance schemes provided by the government, which have been improving for years of effort, and the household registration -- Hukou system. Access to better-quality hospitals is limited in rural areas because of the lack of secondary and tertiary hospitals that can provide more comprehensive and specialist services to patients. Physician resources are also outflowing into bigger cities as rural areas have significant shortages in physician density and fall short in physician training. Of countries with similar problems, Norway has a high index of quality and healthcare with a maldistribution of healthcare resources and has decreased the inequality or disparity gap by implementing educational programs for medical students and emphasizing primary care. Brazil has the same problems of urban-rural disparities but is better at implementing initiatives to change the situation, such as the use of family health teams and community health workers. In this review, the author analyses the possible causes of healthcare disparity between rural and urban areas in China, compares the policies of other countries with similar conditions, and provides some solutions to decrease the gaps between rural and urban medical insurance services.

Gender Equity in Land Distribution and Food Poverty: Evidence Using Cameroonian Data

ABSTRACT This article examines the food poverty impacts of gender equity in the distribution of land for productive activities using the most recent Cameroon household consumption survey data conducted in 2014. It employs the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition to investigate the existence of a gender-land inequality gap and the factual and counterfactual regression analyses and Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke class of poverty measures to tease out the food poverty impacts of gender equity options in land distribution. The article’s major contribution to literature is in disintegrating the food poverty impacts of two salient policy packages—the policy package which gives each woman without land at least one hectare of land to exploit for productive activities relative to that which gives women the same rights to own land as their male counterparts. The results indicated that policy efforts to ensure a female head without land has at least a piece of land for productive purposes (referred to as equity-within) are more potent in alleviating food poverty compared to those that promote gender equality in the distribution (referred to as equity-between) of land for productive purposes. These results have implications for policy measures to enhance women’s roles as agricultural producers, especially with respect to ownership of land for productive use.

Assessing Community Attitudes Towards Home-Based Male Caregivers for Daycare Children

This study explored community attitudes toward home-based male caregivers for daycare children in Ogbomoso, Nigeria. The aim was to understand perspectives on using male versus female caregivers. Respondents included equal numbers of married men and women aged 30-50 years old. The study asked about their willingness to use male caregivers, reasons behind their decision, expected impacts on children, and need for societal change. The study took place in Ogbomoso South and North Local Government of Nigeria, where 32 parents and prospective parents were surveyed about their attitudes toward home-based male caregivers for daycare children. A qualitative approach was used, with accidental sampling. Inductive thematic analysis elicited key themes shaping attitudes and norms. A prevalent theme was associating caregiving with inherent female capabilities and maternal duties - many felt women naturally provide superior nurturing and care while men lack these innate aptitudes. Alongside this was strong distrust of males with children, stemming from abuse and misconduct fears. However, some felt gender irrelevant, professing egalitarian ideals. But pursuing equality conflicted with lingering scepticism about men's care motivations. It's apparent that parents lack a framework for choosing caregivers yet choose for their children. Such a framework could help bridge the gender inequality gap in caregiving.

Do public healthcare programs make societies more equal? Cross-country evidence on subjective wellbeing

BackgroundUniversal health coverage (UHC) aims to provide quality healthcare services and safeguard the population from the financial burden of catastrophic health expenditure. Its primary objectives are to improve longevity and enhance overall quality of life. This study investigates the relationship between UHC and the inequality in subjective wellbeing (SWB) and explores whether public health programs can reduce social inequality. By employing SWB inequality as a measure, we go beyond the conventional income-centric approach to assess social inequality.MethodsThe SWB data used in this study are derived from the repeated cross-sectional survey obtained from the European Values Study (EVS) and the World Values Survey (WVS). We adopt an observational study design and employ statistical techniques, such as ordinary least squares, Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition, and the recentered influence function (RIF). The RIF, in particular, allows us to characterise the entire distribution of SWB, rather than focusing on a single point.ResultsUHC programs are negatively associated with SWB inequality (-0.070, significant at 5%). The negative association is observed at the 5th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of the SWB distribution, whilst the association becomes positive at the 95th percentile. UHC programs do not contribute to the SWB inequality gap.ConclusionsUHC programs exhibit an inequality-reduction property when the inequality is not severe or when countries are more equal. However, their effectiveness diminishes in the presence of extreme inequality. Health programs do not contribute to the existing SWB inequality gap between developed and developing countries. Strengthening the two dimensions of the UHC program (i.e., service coverage and financial protection) will ensure better health and wellbeing for all, and potentially foster a more equal and inclusive society.

BS P02 Equitable access to bariatric surgery: an exploration of trends in health inequalities and patient profiles over the last 15-years

Abstract Background Bariatric surgery is a safe and effective treatment for obesity and associated co-morbidities. Equality of access to bariatric surgery in the NHS has long posed a serious challenge with significant variation in eligibility criteria between different regions. Obesity disproportionately affects more deprived groups and some ethnic minorities, who have also been shown to experience a worse quality of healthcare and poorer health outcomes. This study aimed to understand the profile of patients accessing bariatric surgery and explore changes in trends over a 15-year period to identify important areas of development for obesity-related healthcare services in our region. Methods This was a retrospective study of all patients undergoing primary and revisional bariatric surgery (gastric band, sleeve gastrectomy, RNY and single anastomosis bypass) for weight loss at our regional bariatric surgical centre since its inception in 2008 until the end of 2022. Data was extracted from a combination of electronic records and a surgical database. Variables included gender demographic and procedure related data, baseline characteristics including height, weight, deprivation scores, co-morbidities, bloods, and micronutrient levels. Changes in patient profiles were mapped over the 15-year period and compared to population-level data derived from the national census and other publicly available sources. Results 2062 (mean age 47) patients were included. 11 (0.5%) patients were aged over 70 and 155 (7.5%) were less than 30 years of age. 75% patients were women; 42% of patients in 2013 were men which steadily decreased to 17% in 2022 (p < 0.05). The mean BMI of patients undergoing surgery was 54 in 2010 and gradually decreased to 48 in 2022 (p<0.05). White British patients represented 93% of all patients. This decreased from 96.5% in 2009 to 86% in 2022. White British ethnicity was estimated to make up 81% of patients with obesity in the NW of England. Conclusions Several major groups who are likely to significantly benefit from bariatric surgery are disproportionately under-represented by patients accessing treatments for obesity. This includes those at the extremes of ages, men, lower BMI patients and ethnic minority groups. Trends over the last 15 years have either worsened or have insufficiently improved to bridge the gap in health inequalities. The findings from our study underscore the urgent need for wider-scale targeted approaches which aim to address obesity and increase more equitable access to these life-changing treatments.

Sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty in Haiti: sharing knowledge and shaping understanding of food systems at the University of Fondwa

The Association of Peasants of Fondwa (APF), a grassroots organization led by a visionary Haitian Spiritan priest, established the private nonprofit University of Fondwa (UNIF) in Haiti in 2004. The University aims to fill a gap in educational opportunities for rural youth and to develop community leaders able to steward food security, sustainable farm animal husbandry, and small business development. Since the institution’s foundation, University faculty members have explored low-input sustainable agriculture techniques, which were inspired by strategies shared earlier by Cuban agronomists and adapted to the Fondwa region’s mountainous terrain. While the University has faced and continues to confront many challenges related to its sustainability as an institution, this article describes the processes by which its faculty and students have conducted diagnoses of soils and crop choices, the innovations they have developed and introduced to improve harvest productivity in rural Haiti and, especially, the ways and means by which they have sought to share such (re)thinking of traditional practices with local farmers. We argue that the University of Fondwa faculty’s close collaboration with local farmers and the agricultural techniques they have refined thereby have not only improved food security for the families involved but have also contributed to the creation of social capital in the countryside and enabled participating Haitian farmers to imagine a path toward food sovereignty. In addition, by educating farmers and providing them tools to improve their food production, the University has worked to close the deep inequality gap that exists between urban and rural Haiti.

The new changes. Education and today's world.

The changes brought about by the COVID19 pandemic have been significant, affecting all areas of life as we know it. The efforts to adapt are varied and important; in the case of education, these changes are more profound and complex. Historically, education has had to adapt to constant and changing demands for its very reason for being, to educate to meet the needs of the environment; today, a global environment that seeks comprehensive and skilled individuals for the world and in this way achieve a positive impact on society.
 Latin America has approximately 156 million students (United Nations, 2021; ECLAC, 2020) and 68 million affected educators (Aleman Vilca, Alarcon Saravia, Monzon Alvarez & Pastor Xespe, 2021) during and post-pandemic, which widens the inequality gap for access to education. Clearly the world was not prepared for such a global health situation and the solution in the case of education was to migrate towards virtual, distance and remote face-to-face education; deteriorating interpersonal relationships (Moya et al., 2020) and the psycho-pedagogical care of the training process (Argandoña Mendoza et al., 2020).
 The use of digital platforms to which not everyone had or has access and/or knowledge in their use, made things even more difficult, hindering the effective educational inclusion that must be achieved (Quintana and Vida de León, 2022), bringing varied consequences such as: increase in forced school dropout; stress, depression and anxiety; learning depends on adults at home; use of multiple digital platforms; others (Gómez-Gómez, Hijón-Neira, Santacruz-Valencia and Pérez-Marín, 2022).

Gender Inequality and Gender Gap: An Overview of the Indian Scenario

Gender Inequality and Gender Gap: An Overview of the Indian Scenario

Abstract 14088: Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Control in a Smartphone-Based Cardiovascular Risk Self-Management Program

Background: Social determinants of health (SDOH) are environmental factors that have an impact on one's health, outcome, and quality of life. SDOH like language, income, healthcare access, race/ethnicity, and neighborhood characteristics can manifest in inequalities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factor burden, resulting in inequitable CVD related morbidity and mortality. Limited data are available on effects of SDOH on CVD risk factor control among users of digital health technology. Aim: To study the impact of SDOH like primary language, household income, access to healthcare and urban/rural residential type on blood pressure (BP) and total cholesterol (TC) control in participants of a smartphone-based cardiovascular risk self-management program with AI-based digital coaching. Methods: Participants’ data were matched with Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s 2020 SDOH database by ZIP code. Changes in systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP) and TC were evaluated from baseline to 6 months follow up. The SDOH variables- primary language, median household income, distance to healthcare facility and urban/rural residential type - were used to predict changes in BP and TC via regression models adjusted for age, gender, and baseline BP/TC. Results: In 27,553 participants (age 55 ± 0.1 y, 48.5% women), overall reduction in BP and TC were observed (p<0.001). Of those with baseline stage 2 hypertension, 80.5% reduced SBP at follow up, and 82.9% of those with baseline high TC (≥240 mg/dL) reduced TC at follow up. Median household income was associated with change in SBP (β -1.6E-5, p < 0.001) and DBP (β -4.8E-6, p < 0.001), but not TC. This association was not clinically significant as each $62,535 increase in the median household income was associated with an additional 1 mm Hg in BP reduction. No difference in BP or TC change was found based on primary language, distance to healthcare facility, and urban/rural residential type (p > 0.05). Conclusion: In a smartphone-based cardiovascular risk self-management program, the majority (>80%) of high-risk participants reduce BP and TC across various SDOH factors. These results highlight the potential use of this technology to bridge health inequity gaps in prevention and control of CVD risk.

Socioeconomic inequality in self-rated health and its determinants: an Oaxaca blinder decomposition in Ilam, West of Iran during 2023

AimTo determine inequality and decompose it’s in Self-Rated Health (SRH).MethodThis population-based cross-sectional study was undertaken on the entire population of the city of Ilam, Iran, in 2023. Multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling with proportion-to-size approach was used to select the participants. Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique was used to show the amount of inequity in SRH and to decompose of the gap of SRH between the poor and the rich group of participants.Results1370 persons participated in the study. The 59.38% of participants stated good SRH status and just 8.86% of participants had poor SRH status. The results of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition revealed a considerable gap (15.87%) in the poor status of SRH between the rich and the poor. A large proportion (89.66%) of this difference was described by explained portion of the model. The results of decomposition showed that economic status was directly responsible for explaining 27.98% of overall inequality gap between rich and poor people. Moreover, hopelessness to future (32.64%), having an underlying disease (18.34%) and difference in the education level (10.71%) were associated with an increase in inequality disfavoring the poor.ConclusionFor people suffering from underlying disease, it is suggested to devise policies to improve access to/and remove healthcare utilization barriers. To address hopelessness to future, it is recommended to carry out further studies to reveal factors which affect it in more details. This can help policy makers to formulate more realistic and evidence-informed policies on order to lessen the current socioeconomic inequity in SRH.

Operationalizing strategies for expanding UHC for the vulnerable population in Nigeria

People living in vulnerable conditions have often been neglected or have a low coverage in health insurance which exacerbate poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion. This necessitates building and implementing insurance coverage that fully integrates social protection systems and community-based social care that prioritise the needs of the most vulnerable. To that end, we propose a decentralized system of sustainable financing and management of the vulnerable group fund that is performance driven with multi-stakeholder accountability systems premised on integrated data management. Integrating these elements will ensure that some of the existing gaps in the basic healthcare provision fund implementation in Nigeria are addressed with the following fundamental building blocks for the vulnerable group fund. These recommendations will help governments, resource partners and relevant stakeholders to consider in formulating strategies for operationalizing the vulnerable group funds and decreasing health inequalities among the population. In addition to implementation of this to accelerate universal health coverage and social protection, this will help to mitigate the currents challenges that exacerbate the inequality gaps, and build more resilient health and social protection systems, including the systems within humanitarian crises settings.

Trends and inequity in improved sanitation facility utilisation in Bangladesh: Evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys

Improved sanitation is indispensable to human health. However, lack of access to improved sanitation remains one of the most daunting public health challenges of the twenty-first century in Bangladesh. The aim of the study was to describe the trends in access to improved sanitation facilities following the inequity gap among households in different socioeconomic groups in Bangladesh. Data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2017-18 were extracted for this study. Inequity in access to improved sanitation was calculated using rich-poor ratio and concentration index to determine the changes in inequity across the time period. In Bangladesh, the proportion of households with access to improved sanitation increased steadily from 25.4% to 45.4% between 2007 and 2014, but slightly decreased to 44.0% in 2017-18. Age, educational status, marital status of household head, household wealth index, household size, place of residence, division, and survey year were significantly associated with the utilisation of improved sanitation. There is a pro-rich situation, which means that utilisation of improved sanitation was more concentrated among the rich across all survey years (Concentration Index ranges: 0.40 to 0.27). The government and other relevant stakeholders should take initiatives considering inequity among different socioeconomic groups to ensure the use of improved sanitation facilities for all, hence achieving universal health coverage.

Gender inequality facing women in leadership as the hindrance to achieving sustainable development in Africa

The study examined the impact of the gender inequality gap in administration which serves as a interference to achieving sustainable social and economic development in Africa. The existence of gender differences has been overlooked in management and leadership research; hence it remains a reality that women are underrepresented in leading management positions in general on the ground, and particularly in leadership roles. The main question is if women’s call to occupy leadership positions is a complete reality or if it is purely a pursuit for political acceptability. Gender gaps in the workforce over the last two decades remained largely unaffected, notwithstanding the increased number of women who have acquired education. Qualitatively, data was primarily collected through secondary content. The need to improve the education systems in low and middle-income countries is recommended, as all countries can reap the benefit of optimizing their deployment of female-skilled professionals and leverage their talent.

The correlation of climate change and mortality: climate change as a factor for health inequalities

Abstract Recent research has found robust evidence that climate change is often negatively impacting on human health. These impacts are distributed spatially unequal both across the countries of the world and within the countries. While research has clearly outlined this unequal distribution on the country level, for instance with the recently added non-optimal temperature risk factor of the Global Burden of Disease 2019 dataset, thereby acknowledging the impact of unfavorable average temperatures on health, the spatial differences in climate change impacts on health on the subnational level is hardly researched. By operationalizing climate data for a climate change trend analysis of various climate change parameters in GIS, and by applying mortality data for different high-, low-, and middle-income countries on administrative area level 2 for both an Ordinary Least Squared (OLS) and Geographically Weighted (GWR) regression analysis, the proposed article is analyzing the unequal impact of climate change on health inequalities within different countries. Under the assumption that climate change-induced changes of local climate-related conditions affect those areas that already are in a disadvantaged position when it comes to health inequality, the paper is expected to show that inequality gaps are further widening due to climate change, not only but especially in low- and middle-income countries that are more affected by climate change than most of the high-income countries. Therefore, it will have to be discussed, how these increasing health inequalities can be dealt with in a just way and under consideration of already existing vulnerabilities in the most affected areas of climate change. Key messages • Climate change directly influences mortality in all analyzed countries with a bigger impact on low- and middle-income countries. • Climate change contributes to widening health inequalities on a subnational level and especially in low- and middle-income countries.

GOVERNANCE ISSUES IN MANAGING ZAKAT FUNDS

Technically, zakat means a fixed proportion of wealth collected from the rich individuals to help the poor and in need so that the recipients purify their hearts from the feelings of envy, jealousy and anger towards the rich. It is the third pillar of Islam that address the economic inequality gap in a Muslim society, and its importance is indicated by the fact that it is not only mentioned at least 58 times in the Quran, but the potential recipients of zakat are clearly identified. The main responsibility of managing the collection and distribution of Zakat funds is on the state governments that have set up designated zakat institutions to perform this important religious responsibility. To ensure that the zakat institutions dispense their responsibilities in the best way possible without fear or favour to assist the poor and the underprivileged, there is a need for a proper zakat management system with good governance practices that properly incorporates the attributes of transparency, accountability, efficiency and fairness. A well-managed zakat institution with proper governance will not only instil public confidence and trust in these institutions but serve the objectives of zakat as ordained by Allah in the Quran. This paper deliberates on the issues of governance in the collection and distribution of Zakat Funds at selected Zakat institutions in Malaysia. It highlights some important governance issues that need immediate attention for Zakat institutions to dispense their responsibilities in a more transparent and efficient manner. The current mode of administration of zakat funds has significantly contributed to these issues. Some solutions are suggested to address the highlighted issues in view of improving the transparency and efficiency in administrating zakat funds at these official zakat centers.